Scoring System: Explained!

So... I've figured I'd better explain in a little more depth as to how the whole scoring system for scores works, and show you what has properly changed! Here you go!

 Junkie Score

The Junkie score was previously a score based on the average of the scores I gave to all the individual pieces in a score. Basically, I'd add up all the individual piece scores and then figure out an average for the whole thing. This didn't work, or just pissed me off, for a couple of reasons!

• The fact that often the Junkie score wouldn't reflect my own personal thoughts on how well composed the score was in it's own right. For example; I believe that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was worthy of less than an 80, whilst Oblivion, in my mind, should have received much higher than 90.52.
• It's quite time consuming having to figure out a score for every single piece, and then calculating the whole average of the score. 

So, I figured I'd change it! Instead of calculating an average, I'm just going to give a Junkie Score which reflects my own personal opinion. It's not going to be mathematically correct, obviously. What it is going to be though, is a reflection of what I actually did think of the score, which to me, is much more important than a carefully calculated result. Reviewing scores is pretty damned subjective anyway, right?!

Highlights

Highlights used to be based on pieces which I felt needed a recommendation. Highlights is now basically a recap of any and every piece that has score higher than 95. An entire score can be listed in the Highlights, or maybe a single piece, or maybe none at all, who knows?! This gives you an idea on how much of the score I liked, or vice versa. 

Asterisks

An asterisks basically means that a piece has excelled. It has captured me, overjoyed me; those kind of things help in emulating an asterisk. Again, an entire score can be listed in the Highlights and all have asterisks, or vice versa.

Buy or Stream?

Buy or Stream is basically my recommendation on whether or not a piece is worth buying or not. A buy will generally be recommended when over half the pieces on the score card have a Highlights place. Buy will generally be quite rare, as forking out $20 for every good score is not really a smart move.

I hope I've cleared that all up!

Dawning Promises Album Review

Title: Dawning Promise  

Composer/s: Frederik Wiedmann

Length: 48 minutes

Track Count: 20 tracks

Year of Release: 2013

Hello! Back again, this time with something a little different; a review to a trailer music album, instead of a film, game or television score. I'm a huge fan of trailer music, and after having a long hard listen to ICON's most recent album, Dawning Promises, I figured I should write a review! So here you go, a review to Dawning Promises.

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If you follow trailer music, then you've probably heard of Audiomachine. They are easily my favourite trailer music brand, and their music is generally incredibly epic, powerful and battle-worthy. It is high honors when I compare this album to my favourite Audiomachine album, Existence. Dawning Promises has a lot of variety, and I think that's what most sets this apart. So many trailer music albums consistently aim for the highest of highs, in every piece. Yes, it's powerful and amazing stuff, but it can be refreshing to hear something that goes a little under. Something that mixes it up in the way of themes and tones and volume. There is not a single piece here which sounds like the previous piece that was played beforehand, and that is the sign of a good composer in Frederik Wiedmann. The guy has absolutely killed it here!  There are some more subtle riffs laying within these huge, booming brass solos which are always lovely to hear. He also manages to mix up the classic orchestral with some lovely bass guitar, and more commonly used instruments. It's this variety that drew me to this album, and has me enjoying every piece available, literally.

My favourite piece has to be Devising Dangerous Designs. Wiedmann mixes it up with contemporary instruments and booming orchestral, to create something that is in the middle of rock and grandeur. It's this mix of instruments that makes every single piece so interesting and unique. 2 pieces later, in Rewarding Radiance, he illustrates a fantastic use of vocals, and how he can go from an incredibly epic, powerful piece, to a more calm and catchy piece. It's a wonderful thing to behold, in how quickly he can change it up to something so different. 

Part of the reason I love trailer music is honestly, the lack of story to try and cover. Film scores require that you cover both the big, important moments, and the smaller, less interesting pivots in time. This can make for a score that has both ups and downs. Trailer albums consist of highly satisfying, beautiful music, and that's all there is to it. Dawning Promises very much adheres to this description, with pieces that are unrelated to each other and continue off in their own direction. This is ultimately the reason I, at no point, lost interest in the album. It was always showing and doing new things, to which I could never stop focusing on. That's the sign of a brilliant trailer album. 

Conclusion:

Dawning Promises is a wonderful album from ICON, and something that I will surely listen to more often into the future. It's energetic, full of variety, and incredibly powerful, all very good things. I'm begging you to order this baby, for ICON really does deserve it.

Highlights:

1. A Legacy Uncovered*

2. A Mighty Force

3. Dawning Promises*

4. Origins Unveiled

5.The Protector Prepares*

6. Hero To The Helpless

7. The Eye Of The Oracle

8. In Shining Defiance

9. Devising Dangerous Designs*

10. Rise Of The Renegade*

11. Rewarding Radiance*

12. The Burden Of A Blessing

13. When Dusk Turns Dark

14. Quick Burning Wick

15. Fluid Commotion*

16. The Clock Strikes Rebellion

17. Over Centuries

18. Eternal Honor

19. Visions Of Grandeur*

20. Purity Shall Prevail

Junkie Score: 100

Buy or Stream? Buy

Thanks for reading! Some links to various accounts below:

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IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

All is Lost Score Review

Title: All Is Lost

Composer/s: Alexander Ebert

Track Count: 11 tracks

Length: 45 minutes

Year of Release: 2013

Hello again! I'm back, and with a review to the newly crowned Best Original Score for the Golden Globes; All Is Lost, by Alexander Ebert. To be honest, before the award ceremony premiered today, I didn't even know the film or score existed, which makes winning pretty impressive in my eyes. Coming from nowhere to beat out Steven Price's incredible score for Gravity must mean good things, hopefully! Let's see whether this score is worth the attention! 

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To begin with, All Is Lost, for the most part, is a very calm score. After reading the IMDb synopsis, I know the film is about isolation and a single man's fight for survival. Ebert really does ease you into the feeling of isolation. Piece 3 and 10, Virginia's Dream and Excelsior and the All Day Man really highlight these thoughts. They leave you feeling quite isolated and lonely. Piece 10 and 11, were, to add to the calmness and isolation, incredibly emotional, and left me with a lump in my throat that didn't seem to want to go away, and for good reason. They were both incredibly well composed, smart pieces which really did take my breath away. 

Unfortunately, a lot of this score feels as if it's dragging on. Our fourth track on the card, The Infinite Bleed, lasts for a total of 8 and a half minutes, and gets frustrating and irritating at the 2 and a half minute mark. That leaves 6 minutes to trudge through. 6 minutes of brutally irritating, painful music. That's not the half of it. So many pieces within the score are long, slow and awfully loud. I had to readjust my stereo volume a countless amount of times, simply because the volume on the slower, more painful pieces spiked to incredibly loud propositions. 

Ebert certainly goes for that atmospheric, almost claustrophobic sound for a lot of this score, most noticeably on the longer pieces. When he uses it more sparingly, it can be quite affecting. It feels as if the sound is closing in around you, and it caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end at various points in time. Unfortunately, when used in the longer pieces, it can really wear thin. Breaks are very much necessary when your attention span starts to wither under the constant hammering of synth and strange, foreign noises. The same riffs can repeat for up to 4 minutes at a time, and it inevitably makes the score feel very repetitive and bloated. Listening to the same music for extended periods of time, over and over again does not make for an enjoyable listening experience. 

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the question that I'm going to ask myself at the end of all this is whether or not this should've beaten out Gravity for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes. And should it have? Certainly not! Gravity is a marvel of ingenuity on Steven Price's part, whilst All Is Lost has few highlights. This is not too bad of a score; it's just not worth any of the hype surrounding it. I'm probably not going to come back to this one any time soon, which is not the best of comments to leave you on, but that's ultimately how I feel.

Highlights:

1. Excelsior

2. All Is Lost

3. Virginia's Dream*

7. Dance of the Lilies

10. Excelsior and the All Day Man*

11. Amen

Junkie Score: 64

Buy or Stream? Stream

Thanks for reading! Some links to various accounts below:

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IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

Lone Survivor Score Review

Title: Lone Survivor

Composer/s: Explosions in the Sky, Steve Jablonsky

Length: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Track Count: 20 tracks

Year of Release: 2013

Hello, once again everyone! This time I'm back with a review to a highly anticipated score; Lone Survivor, by Explosions in the Sky and Steve Jablonsky. I saw the film this morning, and it was pretty damn good. Now, the score! I'm not going to waste anymore time with introductions, so lets get into it!

Lone Survivor is, for the most part, a very atmospheric score. Certainly the first half at least. It's slightly reminiscent of Johan Johannsson's Prisoners score, and to be honest, that is certainly not a compliment! We do have a few pieces full of atmospheric music that do work, such as Seal Credo / Landing, which has a few catchy, decent riffs mixed in to the piece. As well as that, Waking Up, the second piece on the score, is also a fairly good piece. It sets up the tone and mood of the rest of the score quite effectively, so for that it earns close to top marks. For the most part though, the first half is quite irritating and doesn't do much good for my ears, unfortunately. 

The second half of this score, though, manages to pick up and culminate in a very good ending. The show starts at track 10 with Murphy's Ridge, my favourite piece on the score. It's full of powerful, intense action music, and after watching the film, it really has me thinking back to the emotional fights that took place. Not a bad thing at all. The show continues into 47 Down, another very good piece, which kept me thoroughly entertained for a good while. We drop off in quality for a little bit before returning to form in A Storm Is Coming. From there, we have the self titled Lone Survivor, my second favourite piece on the score. It's emotional and really brings a lump to your throat. The credits piece, Never, Never, Never Give Up is also quite heartbreaking, and earned top marks. All in all, the final half of this score was quite effective in both the emotional and action areas. 

Conclusion:

Overall, Lone Survivor is quite a good score. I'd say pay most attention to the final part of this score, and you should have a good time. It certainly begs for repeat listens, and I've already come back to certain pieces more than a few times. I think it was a good move to get both Explosions in the Sky and Steve Jablonsky in to work on this score. Jablonsky knows how to work with Peter Berg, the director of the film, so it was not a bad move for him to enter the fray. Overall, I did enjoy this score, but it could have done with less atmospheric, ear piercing music. 

Highlights:

2. Waking Up

4.Seal Credo / Landing

10. Murphy's Ridge*

11. 47 Down

17. A Storm Is Coming

18. Letter Received / Taliban Attacks*

19. Lone Survivor*

20. Never, Never, Never Give Up

Junkie Score: 68

Buy or stream? Stream

Thanks for reading! Some links to various accounts below:

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IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Score Review

Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Composer/s: Howard Shore

Length: 2 hours, 9 minutes

Track Count: 29 tracks (Extended Edition) 

Year of Release: 2013

Why friends, it's finally that time! Howard Shore's score to the very anticipated film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, a film I adored, has been released! Actually, it was released a couple of weeks ago; it's just that Blogger hates me, and decided that I wasn't aloud to release any reviews for a while. Well, now I can, so I bring to you the review to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Extended Edition score.

I'm going to begin with explaining my love for the rest of the Middle Earth scores. I recently decided to have a listen to Fellowship of the Ring, the extended edition of Return of the King, and An Unexpected Journey. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a decent version of The Two Towers on Spotify, so I decided to leave that out for now. What I found, is that all the scores are full of incredibly wonderful, elaborate music. My favourite score out of that 3 has to be Fellowship of the Ring, as it introduces us to the world of Middle Earth in spectacular fashion. An Unexpected Journey is, though, second to Fellowship, with it's large array of themes, and new and exciting music! I loved it, and it's one of my favourite scores from 2012. Now... Desolation of Smaug. I ordered the extended edition from Intrada, and am I disappointed in what Shore has given us? Partially, I must say. Desolation isn't as full of variety or excitement as An Unexpected Journey, and repeat listens are almost necessary to be able to fully take in what Shore has given. It's not all bad, though, so I'll get into what I liked and what I didn't.

I'm going to begin with the pieces and themes that I did really adore. The Lake-Town theme, which appears in both Protector of the Common Folk and Thrice Welcome, is one of my favourite themes from all of the music of Middle Earth. It's powerful, fun and ultimately, very simple. I can play it on my keyboard, for damn's sakes! It's an easy theme to whistle, and it'll stick in your head for days. The secondary theme for Tauriel, a very beautiful Elvish themed piece, has fortunately grown on me, since my first listen. This theme appears within Beyond The Forest, most prominently, which is one of my favourite pieces from the score. It's emotional, well composed and a joy to listen to. The theme to Beorn as well, which appears in the self-titled House of Beorn is also very good. For the most part, the music is still quite as exciting and dramatic as it always has been. Unfortunately though, a lot of this score seems, to me at least, to be filler.

The Quest For Erebor is the first piece on the score, and it's a bit of a letdown. It throws us into the thick of it a little too quickly, and whilst composed well, isn't that good a listen. Of course, it has the obligatory Hobbit theme, which I quite enjoy, but apart from that, it's quite dull. A lot of the score is like this. It feels, on the first few listens at least, like Shore is just trying to pound us over the head with depressing, dark music. I mean, seriously! We get it, Desolation of Smaug is full of more peril and danger than the previous film! He takes this to the extreme, and it can get quite irritating. Sure, we get some excitement in pieces such as Barrels out of Bond, one of my favourite pieces on the card. It still has that dark undertone to it, but at least it's got a bit of pace and some peaks. A lot of the score just stays slow and deep, and it gets a little boring after a while. 

Like I mentioned, we do have some excitement, here and there. When it does pop up, it's very good to listen to! Barrels out of Bond and The Forest River both have some wonderful music which really gets your heart pumping. Tauriel's main theme appears heavily in The Forest River, and it's wonderful! It never seems to stop, and in a score which has so many points at which it slows down and ceases to amaze, that's something. Most of the fast paced pieces occur within the beginning of the score, which makes sense, I guess. The film does slow down quite dramatically within the final hour, thanks to the Smaug conversations. Within the film, Smaug is certainly something to behold, but here, he's quite dull. His music is slow and repetitive, compared to so much of this score. Sure, it's grown on me every listen; but that's after 6 repeat listens. That's a little too many to find some good in the piece! 

The Desolation of Smaug certainly gets better after repeat listens, for sure. My first listen was incredibly dull, and I just couldn't find much good. The second and third listens were a lot of the same. It was my fourth listen, in which I paid a lot more attention, that I found some really good music lying within. Of course, I was still subjected to some painfully slow and uninteresting music which I just couldn't find any reason to like. But, luckily, this time, I had some good to pay attention to as well. It was a welcome contrast; all this really well composed, good music, and all this slow, boring brass blasting. It's better than all brass blasting, to be honest.

We do have pieces which I have mixed feelings about. The Nature of Evil is one of those. There are points in which the piece really picks up, and sounds quite evil. But, for the most part, the piece is just loud, constant brass which failed to impress me. Again, this occurs in The Hunters, a 9 minute piece. There are points at which Shore has excelled in making an exciting, dark action piece that enthralls me. There are points at which I got incredibly bored whilst listening. This is so common within this score, and it's quite irritating! 

Brass is certainly not a bad thing, if you use it in moderation, and well. Thrice Welcome, my favourite piece, has one of the best sets of music I've heard all year. When the brass section pick up and start going hard at the theme for Lake-Town, I'm in pure bliss! The whole piece is such a wonderful showcase on how to work a brass section, yet so much of the score has me pissed off at the trumpets and horns. What the hell happened?! Shore was concentrating half the time, and the rest, he was throwing sloppy music on the sheets? It's strange, certainly. 

Within this score, we also get some Ed Sheeran! I'm not a fan of the guy, but his voice certainly matches the overall dark and brooding feel of the rest of the score, so I think Peter Jackson, the director of the film and executive producer of the score, made a great decision bringing him in to work on the end credits song. His song, I See Fire, is on a lot of my playlists at this point in time, and I just can't stop listening to it. It really matches the Dwarves tone, which is quite the contrast from the Hobbits. It's a much more simple kind of sound. Ed Sheeran perfectly emulates this, and it works for the kind of song he envisioned and delivered. 

This score, in extended edition, has 29 tracks and lasts for a little over 2 hours. I understand, for that running time, that Shore would've certainly had a lot of problems. I can't write music that lasts over a minute or two, for crying out loud! Howard Shore, though, is a professional composer who has written music for a very long time, and coming from him, I don't think this stands up to what he did a year ago with An Unexpected Journey. It's disappointing, after all the anticipation I've gone through!

Conclusion:

Howard Shore has created a dark and brooding score, that both pleases and angers me. There is some really awesome music lying within the covers of this score, that begs for repeat listens. My favourite cue from the score, Thrice Welcome, happens to have one of the sets of the year, for me. Yet, at the same time, constant brass hammering infuriated me to the point of which I actually hated listening to various parts of this score. A Liar And A Thief is a chief example of this. All in all, The Desolation of Smaug isn't necessarily a huge failure, and most fans of Howard Shore's scores for Middle Earth will adore this. Buy the extended edition and listen to this on surround sound like I did; I promise you, it improves the score vastly!

Highlights:

2. Wilderland

4. The House of Beorn

6. Flies and Spiders

7. The Woodland Realm

8. Feast of Starlight*

9. Barrels out of Bond*

10. The Forest River

11. Bard, A Man of Lake-Town
12. The High Fells

14. Protector of the Common Folk*

15. Thrice Welcome*

16. Girion, Lord of Dale
17. Durin's Folk
18. In The Shadow of The Mountain

23. Kingsfoil

27. My Armour Is Iron

29. Beyond The Forest*

Junkie Score (Extended Edition): 76
Buy or Stream? Buy

Some links to various accounts below:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Note 1: Before I go, I'd just like to point out how my scoring works as of now. I've recently changed the scoring system multiple times, and without any explanation. Junkie Score is more of a personal preference as of now, and not necessarily very mathematically correct. I didn't calculate any average, it's just how I saw the score overall. Highlights has returned, and it's for pieces with a score higher than 95. An asterisk implies that the piece is especially liked, and that it has a perfect 100. I hope this cleared up any queries.

Soundtrack Junkie Award: Best of 2013!

Hello, and welcome, one and all, to the awards for the best of 2013, when it comes to film, game and television scores! Based on what I've heard from last year, I'm here to establish what I enjoyed most from last years wonderful array of music! I would just like to point out, that this is a completely biased list, and it all depends on what I enjoyed this year. You can hate on me and what not for choosing some of the titles I'm going to choose, but unfortunately, I couldn't care less! Here's how I see it, and if you disagree... Good for you! Now, onto the show!

Best Action Score: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug-Howard Shore

2. The Wolverine-Marco Beltrami

3. Man of Steel-Man of Steel

4. Thor: The Dark World-Brian Tyler

5. Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag-Brian Tyler

The Winner Is: Man of Steel-Hans Zimmer

Zimmer has had a stellar year, with some awesome scores, including The Lone Ranger, Rush and The Bible, but the one that really stood out for me was certainly Man of Steel. Zimmer haters will certainly despise me for liking and hailing this score as a masterpiece, but seriously... Man of Steel is emotional, powerful and a bunch of fun. Every action cue is exhilarating, high stakes and down right awesome! Man of Steel is a clear winner, for myself.

Best Animated Film Score: 2013

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Nominations:

1. Epic-Danny Elfman

2. The Dark Knight Returns-Christopher Drake

3. Frozen-Christophe Beck

The Winner Is: Epic-Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman knows how to make a really awesome, fun, animated score, and Epic is a perfect example of this. Whilst many criticise the score with a lack of inspiration, I find it to be very refreshing and interesting. It's something I can just lie back and listen to for fun, and it's wonderful!

Best Release: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. Cocoon-James Horner (Intrada)

2. Days of Thunder-Hans Zimmer (La La Land Records)

3. Superman Returns-John Ottman (La La Land Records)

The Winner Is: Superman Returns-John Ottman

I thought Days of Thunder was a clear winner, before I looked through my playlists and found John Ottman's wonderful Superman Returns expanded score, which I couldn't stop listening to! Instead of sitting and talking with family on Christmas, I recall listening to this baby on repeat, for most of the day! La La Land really stole the show with this incredibly powerful, fun and engrossing score, that is masterfully composed, and really captures much of the essence of Superman.

Best Composer: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. Steven Price-Gravity, The World's End

2. Hans Zimmer-Man of Steel, Rush, The Lone Ranger, The Bible

3. Brian Tyler-Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3

4. Marco Beltrami-The Wolverine, A Good Day To Die Hard, World War Z, Carrie, Warm Bodies

5. Abel Korzeniowski-Romeo and Juliet, Escape From Tomorrow

The Winner Is: Brian Tyler

If you follow me on Google+, you'll see why I chose this man. I adored Thor and Iron Man 3, but AC4 was on another level for me! Tyler takes me into this world he's trying to create, and doesn't let go until the very end! He's an exciting composer, and one who loves to mix things up every once in a while. Great year for Tyler!

Best Film Score: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. Man of Steel-Hans Zimmer

2. Oblivion-M83 & Josh Trapanese

3. Thor: The Dark World-Brian Tyler

4. Rush-Hans Zimmer

5. Gravity-Steven Price

6. Paranoia-Junkie XL

7. Escape From Tomorrow-Abel Korzeniowski

The Winner Is: Oblivion-M83 & Josh Trapanese

I've raved about this score enough, so I'll keep it short. Oblivion captured the emotion of the film, had a distinctive, smart theme and ultimately, stole my heart for the entire duration of it's running time. I loved it from beginning to end, and whilst it may not have as high a score as, say Man of Steel or Gravity, it's the score that I'll remember years down the track, when I think back on 2013.

Best Television Score: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. Game of Thrones: Season 3-Ramin Djawadi

2. The Bible-Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe

3. Legends of Chima-Anthony Lledo

4. Arrow: Season 1-Blake Neely

The Winner Is: Game of Thrones: Season 3-Ramin Djawadi

This was my first Game of Thrones score, and I was not disappointed with the quality! Djawadi kills it every year with the score to this brilliant television show, and this is no exception. Everything about this score screams epic, and I certainly had the most fun of any score this year in the television category listening to this. 

Best Game Score: 2013

_________

Nominations:

1. Grand Theft Auto V-Tangerine Dream & Woody Jackson

2. Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine-Austin Wintory

3. Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag-Brian Tyler

4. Call of Duty: Ghosts-David Buckley

The Winner Is: Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine-Austin Wintory

This score was a bunch of fun, and captured the atmosphere of the game perfectly. It felt like a heist score, and that is what made it so engrossing. It's a joy to listen to, and it will certainly not get old any time soon, I can guarantee you that!

That's pretty much all I have to offer you now! I'm sorry for the lack of nominations and categories. Apparently, I hadn't listened to that many scores! But those are my awards, and I hope you enjoyed reading all about why I choose them! 

Thanks for reading! Check out some of these links to social networks/music streaming sites/movie related sites/etc...

Google+ 

My Spotify Account

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Absence

I'm incredibly sorry guys and girls for my absence, as of late! Apparently, Blogger hates me, and it never wanted to allow me to type in Chrome. I've been attempting to fix the problem, to avoid having to change browsers, to the dreaded Mozilla Firefox, but inevitably, that is what it has come down to. I can promise you that I shall be writing, doing more now, and I shall continue on with reviewing scores new and old!